Review: Holistic Dental Care Products from Living Libations

Living Libations is a Canadian company specialising in essential oil based health and beauty products. Run by the ever glowing, healthful looking Nadine and Ron, the company aims to “enhance the ambiance, to flora the aura, and to mist, bathe, infuse, diffuse, amuse, and shower sweet-selves with blessings bestowed from rhythms of nature.”

The book is a guide to natural oral care based on a whole body approach that addresses the limits of conventional practices that treat only oral symptoms and not the source of body imbalances. It covers the physiology of teeth, the sources of bacteria and decay, the truth about artificial chemicals in mainstream toothpastes and mouthwashes, the harmful effects of traditional dental methods such mercury fillings, root canals and braces, alternative approaches, healthy nutrition, oral care for children, the benefits of essential oils, what to look for in a dentist and ways to test the health of your mouth.

And so we began the programme. Firstly we were surprised how little effort this took. Less than 10 minutes in the morning and again in the evening, we tailored it to suit ourselves. Step one is a salt rinse which we do by swishing in the morning and using our water flosser at night. Step two is scraping the tongue which we made step one in the morning. Step three is brushing the gums with a dry toothbrush. We use Happy Gum Drops on an ionic toothbrush as instructed. Step four is to polish the teeth with an electric toothbrush. We use Happy Gums Clay Toothpaste in the morning and the Neem Enamelizer Liquid at night. Step five is to check the gums with a gum stimulator which we do with another drop of Happy Gum Drops. We combined steps six, seven and eight by using salt and a drop of the Yogi Tooth Serum in our water flosser. Nadine specifically warns against a water flosser for the oral irrigation stage but a very fine head seems to do the job for us. We then use the remainder of the same solution for the final rinse.

So, what have the book and routine done for us other than give us cleaner teeth? We’ve learned that white teeth come from within and added a multivitamin to our day. We have started to lightly polish our teeth rather than brush them which means less pressure and a cleaner result. We know more about the necessary purity we should be seeking from our essential oils. We’ve learned which oils to use for targeted results and have been applying tea tree when necessary. We are swishing with magnesium oil to strengthen our teeth. We’ve learned that a salt water rinse throughout the day will increase gum health. We’re using the filtered water that we drink for teeth cleaning rather than the tap water we refuse to swallow.

We wholeheartedly recommend this regime; it soon became habit. Self care is essential for optimal total health and oral health is so often overlooked. This little practice day and night has our teeth smoother, brighter and cleaner and we can only imagine how a better functioning mouth is benefiting us in other ways.

We spoke to Living Libations about self dentistry…

What inspired Living Libations?

Nadine’s official biography begins when she first combines flasks of essential oils to recreate Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps for a school science fair. These botanical-inclinations led her on petal pathed adventures in creating organic beauty balms, reviving elixirs, healing oral care and perfumed poetry to quench the natural yearnings of many.

Why is conventional dentistry failing us?

Like most of us, you probably learned to brush and floss your teeth as a child. The truth is, brushing and flossing isn’t enough. And we have got the cavities, crowns, root canals and missing teeth to prove it.

Although we have been taught that brushing our teeth is important, it isn’t everything. Tooth care goes far beyond merely brushing our teeth.

Step out of the endless dental loop of cleanings, fillings, crowns and root canals and embrace beneficial botanicals for pearly teeth, happy gums, and kissable breath. There are only 8 simple steps to Successful Self Dentistry, and there is a rejuvenating oral care Libation for every step: brush, polish, floss, and gargle with rejuvenating plant-purity for the cleanest and happiest mouth ever.

What are we missing when it comes to understanding teeth?

Your teeth are alive and capable of healing themselves from early cavity damage. When bacteria are removed and our diet improved, the cavity can be halted. Let us compare a brown spot on our tooth to a cut. When we cut ourselves, we clean the wound. We should regard cavities like open wounds; they are a symptom of infection, not something to fill with foreign substances. We need to perceive the inside of our mouth as a whole, living organ, a living ecological system that can be nourished, strengthened and regenerated.

Our saliva contains enzymes to take care of our teeth. When teeth are well lubricated in healthy saliva, the saliva can heal decay and even prevent it. Saliva is a saline solution of enzymes, peptides, minerals, and bicarbonate. It can re-mineralise or de-mineralise teeth and should not be too acid or alkaline. If it is too acid, it dissolves teeth enamel, creates a healthy environment for bacteria and leads to sensitive teeth. On the other hand, if saliva is too alkaline, it excretes calcium and can create calculus buildup on the teeth. Saliva is one of the superheroes of our mouths, yet it has to be able to do its job effectively. You can help by keeping hydrated with spring water during the day.

Scientific advances have increased our knowledge about our teeth and our health, enabling us to take charge of our teeth in ways we never dreamed about.

Bleeding gums can often be remedied, sometimes in 24 to 48 hours. Gums are easy to heal with dedication and a few minor daily changes. Gums are like turtleneck sweaters to our teeth. If they turn into crew necks, bacteria can get to the teeth and cause trouble. It is wise to take care of our gums whenever there are problems. Usually the gums get in trouble before the teeth.

Bleaching your teeth is less than recommended! Whiteness should come from within. Your teeth should actually be radiating the whiteness of their dentin beneath the enamel. Polishing your teeth is a good way to remove biofilm and colours from foods.

There is more to avoiding cavities than avoiding hard candy because it sticks in your teeth. Decay is not caused by sugar touching the teeth, but by sugar in the diet. Processed and refined foods can disrupt the digestion and the endocrine system, altering the flow of nutrients to the teeth. When the internal environment has collapsed, the nutrition is vacant and if you have got a few generations of depleted nutrition in your genealogy, it is less than ideal for your teeth and gums.

Why essential oils?

Each plant oil is a botanical miracle. When several oils are skillfully combined, the mosaic effect of thousands of plant compounds bursts forth with an intelligence and life force that defines every Libations creation.

How pure are the oils you use?

All Libations’ botanicals are authentic and pure and distilled only from the named plant matter. We call our essential oils Hi-Fi oils due to the distillers’ faithful and accurate adherence to the master plant. All of our Hi-Fi oils are distilled from either wild crafted or organically grown plants. Our wild crafted plant matter is collected from the plants natural habitat in lieu of a farm. We avoid offering botanicals from rare or threatened species of plants growing in the wild to discourage their disruption and disappearance.

To amplify the potency of the aromatic essence in the plant being distilled, our harvesters gather the part of the plant needed for the oil at the ideal time of day for each plant. An ancient and artful distillation method further ensures that the maximum amount of compounds and trace elements are captured in every drop. Most of our oils are distilled with nothing more than pure water.

Our ‘absolute’ oils are a unique type of extraction used required by a few plants that that need a solvent to liberate the aromatic molecules from the plant’s cellulose. The solvent is cleanly removed after distillation.

How can we be sure we are using pure essential oils?

All essential oils are not equal. Due diligence is needed if you want only really pure and authentic botanical oils. Many distributers and marketers use terms such as “Grade A,” “therapeutic grade,” and “aroma-therapeutic grade” to describe their oils. Yet, these are words without meaning. No organisation, association, or commission monitors the purity or quality of essential oils, and there is no universal essential oil grading system in place. Be aware.

No one holds distillers or distributers to the published standards or monitors for quality. It is very important to know your source.

Each essential oil has specific components that make it distinctive and authentic, and there are published standards defining these profiles. Various countries, including the US, have published pharmacopoeias that outline exacting chemical and physical standards for hundreds of botanical oils. There is also a universal standard for most botanicals maintained by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

The ISO and the pharmacopoeias are not regulating bodies or purity-police. A bottle labeled as “organic, therapeutic, Grade A rosemary oil” may not contain any rosemary at all! It may be oil components from a peppermint plant grown with fertilizer that is tinkered with in a laboratory until it smells a little bit like rosemary but is missing all the benefits provided by authentic rosemary oil.

Are your products sustainable?

Global Responsibility is a popular marketing trend and for this we are deeply grateful. Living Libations’ rigorous standard of purity honors the health and preservation of forests, lakes and rivers, farms, the people who cultivate and distill for us, our families, our neighbors, and our clients.

For over 20 years we have nurtured personal relationships with artisan distillers and family farmers around the globe so that we may secure authentic oils and extracts that are purely and fairly produced. Many of the highest quality plants and flowers used in plant oils are indigenous to the developing world, and the people native to those regions learned from their families the ancient craft of distillation. We can track the source of our oils from the plant growing in the field to the oil arriving on our doorway.

Essential oil yields vary from year to year depending on weather patterns, plant growth and health, and even political stability in some regions. As with wine, some years are just better than others. All of these factors influence the availability and the price of the botanicals we use.

It is our pleasure to observe fair trade practices so that our skilled farmers, harvesters, and distillers are safe and earn a fair wage for their labor and goods.